Days of Heaven (1978)
Music Composed, Orchestrated And
Conducted By Ennio Morricone
With Contributions By Leo Kotite & Doug Kershaw
Executive Album Producer: Lukas Kendall
Film Score Monthly FSM14 No.12
Disc One: 30 Tracks/Running Time: 73:33
Disc Two: 33 Tracks/Running Time: 63:33
Released On July 10, 2011
Days of Heaven is a seminal drama released in 1978 and Directed by the rather reclusive Terrence Malick, who was practically known like Stanley Kubrick was in someways, a perfectionist. His more recent films such as The Thin Red Line, The New World and Tree of Life which finally came out this early summer would atest to. The film has a rather unique and intriguing history behind it from it's original casting of John Travolta in the role that would eventually go to Richard Gere after ABC wouldn't let him out of his contract on the hit show "Welcome Back, Kotter" to do the film. The film's cinematographer Nestor Almendros eventually left due to a committment to do a Francois Truffaut film and the film ended up mostly shot by Haskell Wexler. Malick and the film's editor Billy Weber literally spent a year and a half putting the film together until it's September 1978 release. The film revolves around a young couple named Bill and Abby (Gere and Brooke Adams) living in poverty and struggling through hard labor in the streets of the city of Chicago, head south to Panhandle, Texas where they find work on a farm owned by The Farmer (Sam Shepard) during the harvest season. After that harvest is over, The Farmer asks Bill and Abby who are acting as brother and sister to stay with them because he has fallen in love with Abby. Soon after Bill learns that the The Farmer is dying and that he only has a year to live and convinces Abby to marry him and gain his wealth and no longer live in poverty. The film as in typical Malick fashion is narrated by Linda Manz, the little girl in the fllm from her point of view with rather memorable voiceovers which were recorded in raw fashion by Malick himself after the film was completed. The film would go on to garner four Academy Award nominations for Best Sound, Cinematography, Costume Design and last and certainly not least, Ennio Morricone's masterpiece of a score.
Morricone was no stranger to epics or dramas or was or ever been intimidated by the massive amount of work involved musically to make a film better. Best example was the massive Bernard Bertolucci film from 1976, 1900 which required a hefty amount of music on it's own. Morricone's filmography itself reads like a composers bible full scores from every single film genre known in Hollywood and beyond. Morricone had a rather interesting assignment working with Malick, who showed us in this film and in his future films that while editing and preparing a film for release, he also messes with the music to suit his film the way he sees fit. In some ways it's a good thing and in others....not so good. Days of Heaven was temp tracked with music from 1900 which fit the film in the preview stage and Morricone eventually accepted the project under the condition that he would only write and the record the score in Italy since he did not want to fly to the U.S. at the time. Morricone's score was not only crucial to the film and it's alluring "magic hour" cinematography, it had a memorable and distinctive voice of its own. Malick had also set a template for what he wanted the score to sound like using Saint-Saens: Aquarium (Le Carnaval des Animaux) as the score's signature sound which is a terrific piece.
Morricone's score and easily be described with the words: magnificient, brilliant, masterful, stunning, heartwarming, powerful and I can easily go on and on because there simply isn't enough phrase for this score that hasn't already been used especially by Morricone's fans and soundtrack enthuisasts. Aside from the music of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly), Once Upon A Time In America and The Mission, this is in fact Morricone's grand opus. It is a score that should be reveered not only for soundtrack fans, but also classical enthusisasts as well. It's an album that could be enjoyed as a fan of both and also serve as introduction to the brilliance of the legendary composer when given a memorable and invigorating project like this one. The melodies, the instrumentation and that haunting, accessible main theme is just simply breathtaking. It is everything that one could ever want from a score and a soundtrack album, absolute perfection and repeat listens. I've listened to it several times and it grows more and more special the more you listen to it. I will definitely say that this will be an absolute hit for Film Score Monthly if it isn't already.
Malick's films have always had their scores trauncated sometimes in effective ways and sometimes to the absolute and total frustrations of the composers. Recent examples would include Hans ZImmer and John Powell's massive four-hour plus contribution to the intended cut of Thin Red Line, Academy Award winner James Horner's masterful work for The New World and Alexandre Desplat's classically based Tree of Life, which is one of the best scores of the year as heard on the soundtrack itself. Malick's musical instincts sometimes do actually work in the case of using the Saint-Saens: Aquarium (Le Carnaval des Animaux) as inspiration for Days of Heaven or using Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question as the theme for The Thin Red Line, in which Hans Zimmer said it was a brilliant choice and really couldn't top it in his score.
Originally it was released when the film came out on LP by Pacific Arts which had fair amount of Morricone's score on it with the album running just barely under thirty-seven minutes with the score's essential themes and highlights the score as a whole. Film Score Monthly's newly released album features not only the original 1978 album on Disc 1, but it features the score as it was used in the film itself in conjuction with the Leo Kotite's Enderlin and Doug Kershaw's Swamp Music for the remainder of the disc. Disc Two is completely new and exciting discovery, as it features the complete recordings of music that was intended to be in the film in its raw and complete form complete with insect sounds to easily be integrated into the film's sound design. Also, featuring alternate mixes and cues in shortend or longer versions.
With fascinating liner notes by Jeff Bond and Lukas Kendall, which make me want to watch the film, this set is an absolute winner and easily is one of the best reissues of the year without question. It would also make sense that this score is finally released in it's full glory because the film was released as part of the Criterion Collection which preserves cinema's most important and historical films with a new film transfer that was approved by Malick, editor Billy Weber and cinematographer John Bailey and new interviews by some of the cast and crew.
Days of Heaven is one of those great scores that you can easily phrase endlessly with such pleasure and joy. It actually surprised me at how great it really was because it grabbed me from the word go and never let go. That's how music should be written and should be remembered. It is also to the credit of Ennio Morricone and to a certain extent Terrence Malick, who knew what they wanted and knew how to make something good, into something great! It is a brilliant achievement. Bravo!
Days of Heaven is currently available to order from Screen Archives (www.sae.com) as well as Intrada (www.intrada.com)
DISC ONE
1978 Soundtrack Album 1. Aquarium [Le Carnaval des Animaux] (Camille Saint-Saëns) 2:05 2. We Used to Do Things (Linda Manz) 0:49 3. Enderlin (Written & Performed by Leo Kottke) 3:14 4. Harvest 2:59 5. Threshing 2:05 6. Happiness 2:13 7. The Honeymoon 1:26 8. Swamp Dance (Performed by Doug Kershaw. Words & Music by Doug Kershaw.) 3:32 9. The Return 2:31 10. The Chase 2:00 11. The Fire 7:48 12. Ashes & Dust 2:17 13. Days of Heaven 3:26
Ennio Morricone Cues Used in Picture 14. Main Theme (7M1 tk 8) 1:02 15. The Farmer and the Girl (Theme 18—piano version) 1:53 16. In the Field (Theme 5 long version, cf. Harvest) 2:59 17. Bad News (3M1 tk 3) 2:35 18. Non-Stop Work (2M1 2nd part) 0:36 19. Main Theme (2M1 1st part) 1:18 20. Bad News (4M3) 0:36 21. After Wedding (5M2 2nd part) 0:56 22. Empty House (5M3, cf. The Honeymoon) 1:24 23. On the Road (1M2 for 5M4) 1:41 24. They Should Leave (6M1, cf. Ashes & Dust) 2:16 25. On the Road (8M1 long version, cf. Happiness) 2:13 26. Bill Returns (8M2, cf. The Return) 2:30 27. The Locusts and Fire (9M1, cf. The Fire) 7:29 28. The Farmer and the Girl (11M3 2nd version) 2:26 29. His Death (5M2 1st part) 1:27 30. The Farmer and the Girl (10M3, cf. Days of Heaven) 2:46
DISC TWO
Extended Score Program 1. 1M1 (Main Title) 2:00 2. 1M2 (Train Ride) 1:44 3. 1M3 (Main Theme) 1:47 4. Theme 18 (Love Theme, long version) 1:22 5. 2M1 1st part (Main Theme, alternate take) 1:20 6. 2M2 (Main Theme) 0:53 7. 2M3 (Threshing, alternate mix) 2:05 8. 3M1 (Bad News, longer version) 2:42 9. 3M2 (Work Theme) 1:46 10. 3M3 (Love Theme) 1:00 11. 4M1 (Intro to Love Theme, 2 versions) 0:39 12. 5M1 (Love Theme) 1:17 13. 5M2 (Insect Noises With Main Theme) 1:45 14. 5M3 (The Honeymoon, with piano) 1:26 15. 6M1 (Intro to Love Theme/Ashes to Dust) 2:42 16. 6M2/7M2/7M3 (Suspense Theme/Main Theme, 2 versions/Suspense Theme) 2:27 17. 8M1 long version (Happiness) 2:16 18. 8M2 (The Return, piano version) 2:33 19. Ghost Voices 2:33 20. 9M1 (The Fire) 7:31 21. 10M1 (Pursuit Theme) 1:26 22. 10M2 (The Killing) 1:06 23. 10M3 (Days of Heaven) 2:47 24. 11M1 version 1 (The Chase) 2:01 25. 11M1 version 2 (Love Theme) 2:06 26. 11M2 (Main Theme) 1:03 27. 11M3 version 2 (Main Theme) 2:36 28. 11M3 version 1 (Love Theme) 2:29 Bonus Tracks 29. 4M2 (Intro to Love Theme) 0:22 30. 5M2 1st track (Insect Noises With Main Theme, alternate) 1:51 31. 5M2 2nd track (Main Theme, 1st mix) 1:23 32. 5M2 2nd track (Main Theme, 2nd mix) 1:22 33. Theme 18 (Love Theme, short version) 0:49
- Danny Gonzalez
Film Music Examiner New York -NYC
